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♦ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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the 



Hope of the Righteous 



DISCOURSES AT THE FUNERALS OF 



Prof. Albert Hopkins, Rev. Dr. Nahum Gale 



Rev. Dr. N. H. Griffin 



BV 

P. A. CHADBOURNE 

President of Williams College 



NEW YORK 

PUTNAM'S 

182 Fifth Avenue 

1877 







Copyright by 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 

1877. 



CONTENTS. 



♦ ♦♦ 



PAGE 



1. Personal 5 

2. Sermon at the Funeral of Professor Albert 

Hopkins, LL.D., May 28, 1872 13 

3. Sermon at the Funeral of Rev. Nahum Gale, 

D.D., of Lee, Mass., Sept. 21, 1876 36 

4. Remarks at the Funeral of Rev. Nathaniel 

Herrick Griffin, D.D., Oct. 18, 1876 54 



PERSONAL. 



There are but few men who have reached 
the age of fifty years, who do not find them- 
selves surviving the large portion of those 
friends to whom they early looked for sym- 
pathy and counsel. Those who stand almost 
alone in their generation, as one friend after 
another has weakened in the way, know how 
sad this loneliness at times becomes, and also 
what a precious treasure they possess in the 
memory of those whose friendship, free from 
selfishness and weakness, was a constant bene- 
fit and joy. When sorrow for the loss of such 
friends is mellowed by time, as the rough out- 
lines of ravine and cliff are softened by vines 
and flowers, it is pleasant in thought to sur- 
round ourselves with those who are gone, 
whose lives were a blessing to us while they 
remained, and the memory of whom brings 
nothing but pleasant pictures to our view. 

Among the many friends whose memory I 
have cause to cherish, the three whose names 



g HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

are here joined together, were those whose re- 
membrance will ever be a source of the purest 
pleasure, as, in life, they were among those 
who could be counted upon as kind and true 
in all the varied relations in which we were 
placed together. A life-long sorrow must fol- 
low the loss of such friends ; but with that 
sorrow are mingled blessings, which the friend- 
ship of such men can alone bring. 

It is one of the most pleasant things in my 
life, that these three men with whom I had 
been so long associated in various ways — as 
pupil, colleague, and friend — should in their 
last moments turn their thoughts to me — 
though two of them were far from me — and 
request that I should speak the last words for 
them to their kindred and friends. To have 
the confidence and love of such men to the 
last after so many years, and to know by such 
proofs that you were present in their thoughts, 
as one who understood them, as one to be 
trusted in things most sacred to them and those 
whom they loved, is a comfort that outweighs 
a thousand harsh judgments of those who are 
hurrying selfishly through the world disturbed 
by the perplexities of daily life. 



PERSONAL. j 

The discourses arc printed as they wen 4 , de- 
livered, excepting the slight changes absolutely 
required for the press, though from the circum- 
stances of the case, in respect to the first two, 
there were but a few hours for their prepa- 
ration. In reference to the third, Dr. Griffin 
specially requested that no formal discourse 
should be pronounced. The few remarks were 
written out from the scanty notes prepared at 
the time. 

If any apology is required for the publi- 
cation of discourses such as these, delivered 
under so unfavorable conditions for full elab- 
oration, it is found in the desire of some who 
remember with affection these friends who are 
gone, to preserve the words spoken of them in 
compliance with their own last request. I de- 
sire also to put on record my estimate of these 
men, to whom I personally and the College 
over which I have been called to preside, owe 
so much. 

From the time of my entering Williams Col- 
lege, in 1845, till Professor Hopkins' death in 
1872, our relations were as intimate and confi- 
dential as it seems possible they could be be- 
tween persons situated as we were. As stu- 



8 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

dent under his instruction, as his colleague in 
college for many years, as member of his fami- 
ly, and co-worker with him in many under- 
takings, I have now, and shall ever retain, the 
most delightful recollections of his unvarying 
kindness and pure Christian life. His love of 
nature, his fervid religious character, by which 
he moved among us almost with the power of 
a prophet of old, his genial humor that never 
weakened the influence of his religious life, and 
his active sympathy with everything that per- 
tained to his friends, made him one of the most 
pleasant companions and valued associates that 
it could fall to the lot of any man to possess. 
His whole life is like a pleasant picture where 
the grandeur of mountain scenery is combined 
with the beauty of unruffled lake and culti- 
vated vale ; his memory, like precious ointment 
poured out. 

With Dr. Gale. I became acquainted at East 
Windsor Hill Seminary, in 1 85 1. That ac- 
quaintance continued and became more inti- 
mate as we labored together for the College, 
one as trustee and the other as officer. And, 
especially, during my Presidency, the counsel 
and sympathy of Dr. Gale were prompt and 



PERSONAL. 9 

hearty. Though not loving controversy, he did 
not shrink from responsibility; and his aid and 

encouragement were read)' at any moment 
when needed. The words spoken by him, as 
he turned from me the last time on the Com- 
mencement stage, were such as he might have 
spoken had he known they were to be his last. 
His wise counsel, faithful labor, and cheerful 
words will long be remembered by those who 
have been associated with him in official duties. 

Dr. Griffin came into the College as Profes- 
sor, in 1846, at the beginning of my junior 
year. As instructor and pupil, as colleagues 
in college work, and as friends, our relations 
were intimate for the rest of his life. And it 
was by his dying bed alone of the three, that 
I had the privilege of sitting to speak with 
him of our past days, and to talk of the future 
of the two worlds. It was, indeed, a privilege 
to see how a good man can die ; with what 
courage one, who has shrunk from conflict 
all his days, can, when the time comes, meet 
every requirement of God's providence, even 
death itself. 

Dr. Griffin was a most judicious counselor. 
If he ever erred, it was on the side of caution. 



IO HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

But with all his natural caution, he never hesi- 
tated to recommend prompt action nor to as- 
sume responsibility where principle was in- 
volved. 

In all questions relating to theology and 
philosophy, Dr. Griffin's learning and judg- 
ment were equaled by very few. As a critic in 
all the higher realm of learning and thought, 
his aid was eagerly sought by those who were 
laboring in the same fields. As a faithful 
laborer for the College in all his relations to it, 
he had no superior. There is but one verdict 
from all those capable of judging of his service. 
It awards him the praise of unwavering fidelity 
and untiring labor. 

While these three men had strongly marked 
individuality, they were, as may readily be in- 
ferred, in many important respects alike. They 
were men of learning, of devoted piety, of ir- 
reproachable lives, of great usefulness ; and 
they were true in all trusts and in all the rela- 
tions of life, — men to whom one would love to 
turn in confidence, when tempted to believe 
that all men are false. They were friends to 
each other ; and it is one of the choicest bless- 
ings of my life that I have been able to reckon 



PERSONAL. x j 

them among- my friends ; one of the rich trea- 
sures of memory which advancing life has 
brought, that in the long intercourse with all 
these men, there is not a single cloud or 
shadow in the bright picture of the past, which 
now alone is left. 

Their places will be filled in the work of 
life. The places in the college and pulpit may 
be made good by those who are called to the 
work which they have left, but the places 
which they have left vacant in the hearts of 
their friends will remain unfilled. 

P. A. C 

Williams College, 1877. 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. 



The Bible abounds with descriptions of holy 
men, and with symbols which typify the char- 
acter and the blessedness of the servants of 
God. In the hour of bereavement, we come to 
the Bible for consolation, for words of comfort, 
and for aid in appropriating- to our good the 
teachings of God's providence, as connected 
with the life and the death of his children. 

I have selected as appropriate to this oc- 
casion, that portion of the Word of God, re- 
corded in the xii. ch. of Daniel and 3d verse. 

II And they that be wise shall shine as 
the brightness of the firmament ; and they 
that turn many to righteousness as the 
stars forever and ever." 

Amid the beauty and grandeur of this physi- 
cal universe, the heavens have a glory of their 
own ; and they also give the only conditions 
for revealing the beauty and grandeur of all 
other objects. The firmament by day floods 
the earth with light that beams directly from 



j a HOPE OF THE R1GIITEA ' 

the sun ; and from every silvery cloud and the 
blue enamel of the sky, come the softened 
rays of reflected light as a revealer and beau- 
tifier of every object that delights the eye. 
And in the darkness of night, the golden con- 
stellations illumine the heavens with the thou- 
sand stars that for a^es have delighted the 
shepherd on the plain, the mariner on the 
deep, and every thoughtful observer of these 
heavenly bodies, as they move along their 
pathway in the sky. 

It is only by symbols drawn from the natural 
world, that the perfections and glories of the 
spiritual world can be illustrated ; and these 
symbols, we are assured, fall far short of the 
glories that shall be revealed. But in our 
text, the radiance of the firmament by day and 
the beauty of the starry sky are set forth as 
symbols of human character, as that character 
may be revealed in its glorified state in its 
eternal home. 

" And they that be wise shall shine as the 
brightness of the firmament ; and they that t7cm 
many to righteousness, as the stars, forever and 
ever!' 

The wisdom so often referred to in the Bible, 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. x 5 

is distinguished from the wisdom of this world, 
as being the choice of spiritual good ; the good 
which God is ready to bestow for the blessed- 
ness of his rational creatures, and the glory of 
his own name. The wise, whose glory and 
excellence are symbolized by the effulgence of 
the heavens in their mid-day splendor, are those 
who have chosen God as their portion ; His 
Word as their guide of life ; His spirit as their 
light and comfort, and His work as the great 
aim and joy of their lives. 

A life of wisdom in this spiritual sense, a 
life given to the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom 
in the hearts of men, gives to us the highest 
exhibition of human character of which it is 
possible for us to conceive. Such a charac- 
ter is the image of Christ, and carries with it 
something of the indescribable glory which 
belongs to the Son of God, and which he be- 
stows upon those who have been transformed 
into his image. When we have looked upon 
the heavens, bathed in the flooding light of the 
sun, and upon the radiance of the unchanging 
stars, as they declare the glory of God and 
surpass all other manifestations of beauty, 
order, and grandeur in the physical universe, 



X 6 hope of the righteous. 

we feci how inadequate this all is to set forth 
the excellencies and majesty of one who has 
overcome in the moral conflicts with self and 
the world, and become a pillar in the temple of 
our God. 

What object in all the world of matter, what 
star or sun, what order of constellations, can 
compare with the beauty and the excellence, or 
with the majesty of the moral and religious life 
of him who has now passed from our midst! 

Such a life calls for a more thorough analy- 
sis, and a more worthy memorial than the trib- 
ute which we pay in this hour of our grief, 
while the chariot and horsemen seem yet in 
sight, and his mantle waits for some Elisha, 
who with his power and spirit shall go forth in 
the work which for more than forty years he 
has performed for this college, this town, and 
the world. 

From a life so rich, the few things that can 
be said at this time can but sua-orest to those 
who knew him best, the excellencies of charac- 
ter and the abundance of labors which must 
to-day be passed unnoticed, while we consider 
a few of those elements of power and distin- 
guished services that make his name a light 



1 K OFESSOR Hi )PKINS. 



17 



and glory to this college, one of the lights 
of the religious world, and which enable us by 
the eye of faith to behold him among the 
redeemed, clothed with the brightness of the 
firmament, receiving that crown more enduring 
than the stars, reserved for all those that love 
the appearing of the Lord. 

Professor Hopkins was no ordinary man, 
even when judged by the standards of this 
world. In the prime of his physical powers, 
few men surpassed him in all those elements 
of manly beauty that attract attention and indi- 
cate at once great physical and intellectual 
activity and strength. In later life, when age 
had whitened his locks, and moral conflicts and 
triumphs had deepened the lines upon his face, 
he stood before us a form of dignity and beauty, 
which no ideal of patriarch or prophet ever sur- 
passed. 

The strength and beauty of form were but 
symbols of those high intellectual and moral 
powers which he possessed. These powers of 
body and mind he dedicated to the service of 
God and the welfare of man wherever duty led, 
without regarding the great personal sacrifices 
which he was called upon to make. 



!§ HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

For the office of Professor in college he had 

unusual qualifications, as is abundantly shown 
by his many years of successful labor, even 
when contending against difficulties that would 
have entirely unfitted ordinary men for college 
work. 

If labor w r as needed to prepare means for 
the practical illustration of the subject in hand, 
that labor he gave even when care, and grief, 
and weariness of body would have been an 
abundant excuse for omitting the exercise or 
lightening the work. In the philosophical lec- 
ture room and in the astronomical observatory, 
his learning, and patience, and skill as an experi- 
menter and observer, were equally apparent. 

He went abroad before a steamer had crossed 
the ocean ; when foreign travel was not, as it 
is now, easy of accomplishment, and a mere 
matter of pleasure. He went to visit the men 
of science, observe the new methods and means 
for philosophical investigation, and to secure 
for the college the needful apparatus for scien- 
tific study. He built the first astronomical ob- 
servatory ever built for purposes of instruction 
in connection with any college in this country, 
quarrying the stones with his own hands, — 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. ig 

aided by the students, who had caught some- 
thing- of his own enthusiastic and progressive 
spirit, — and contributing largely from his own 
means for its erection. 

Although the demands upon his time and 
strength in after life, by the orderings of Provi- 
dence, prevented him from carrying on those 
extensive observations for which his taste and 
skill as an observer fitted him, the observatory 
has been made as practical an agency in educa- 
tion, under his direction, as in any college in 
our land. 

He was not only faithful in imparting all the 
instruction required by the college course, but 
he was ever ready to aid and encourage those 
who were willing to undertake the labor to ob- 
serve and become proficient in work in his 
department not required in the class-room. 
Among the sweetest recollections of my student 
life, is now and will be while I live, the remem- 
brance of the nights spent with him in that 
observatory. His voice will be heard by me, 
as I enter the transit room ; and the measured 
beats of the faithful clock will remind me of 
the days and scenes that are passed. 

One of the last labors which he performed 



20 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

after he was too weak to attend to its publica- 
cation, was the preparation of a Treatise upon 
Astronomy. 

"The Memorial Professorship" of Astron- 
omy will have new and precious memories 
connected with it, while the college stands. 

But it was not in his own department alone, 
that Professor Hopkins was an educating 
power in the college. He was a lover of 
Natural History in all its departments, and by 
his direct, and more still by his indirect influ- 
ence, did he aid, during his whole life, in mak- 
ing the study of nature attractive and profitable 
to the students of the college. In 1835, he 
organized, and with the late Professor Emmons, 
led the first scientific expedition ever sent out 
from this college, and, so far as I know, the 
first expedition of the kind ever sent out by 
any college in this country. A vessel was 
chartered and fitted up for the purpose, and 
Professor and students undertook together 
among the islands and along the shores of 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the study of Natural 
History, and the collection of specimens for the 
college cabinet. Such expeditions are com- 
paratively common now, when travel is easy, 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. 2I 

and the necessity of field-work in Natural His- 
tory, is well understood. But that such an ex- 
pedition should have been planned in a college 
among the Berkshire Hills, and successfully car- 
ried out nearly forty years ago, when as yet it 
was necessary to travel a hundred miles to 
reach the railroad, shows that the organizer of 
the expedition was one of those minds that see 
in advance the demands of science, and have 
wisdom and energy enough to adopt the most 
efficient means for its advancement. 

He was also in a great measure instrumental 
in carrying out the subsequent expeditions from 
the college ; and by his words of cheer, and 
his active participation in the meetings of the 
Society of Natural History, his influence was 
scarcely less than it would have been had he 
occupied the chair of Natural History in the 
college. His peculiar traits of mind enabled 
him to do far more in this incidental way, than 
ordinary men could possibly accomplish. He 
was a thorough lover of nature, and no object 
was too small or too common to be worthy of 
his attention. The crystal and the flower, 
though seen for the hundredth time, had as 
much interest for him as for his student com- 



22 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEi 

panion, who now looked upon it as a new re- 
velation of the Creator's wisdom and skill. 

This love for the beautiful in nature, was 
more fully manifested, perhaps, in the perfec- 
tion of his aesthetic judgment, which enabled 
him to select at a glance the best point of a 
landscape, and in that taste, which enabled him 
to give new beauty whenever he had the means 
of improvement. Living all his life among the 
varied beauties of Berkshire County, and for 
the large portion of his life, in this valley, he 
never wearied of seeking new combinations in 
the landscape, and of encouraging by word and 
act, every effort to add to the beauty of the 
natural scenery. 

The last day of his life, when the shadows 
were lengthening, when the scenes of the eter- 
nal world were opening before him, and his 
heart was going out for the spiritual welfare of 
all around him, he found time to give minute 
directions for the beautifying of the grounds of 
the little chapel where he had spent so much 
time and strength. What must have been the 
calmness of spirit, and what the estimate of 
the element of beauty in its influence for moral 
and religious good, which could have recalled 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. 2 $ 

the thoughts of such a man to the beautifying 
of that glen, as he was closing his eyes upon 
brooks and flowers and landscapes of earth for- 
ever ! 

If we now pass from the consideration of 
those special traits of character which give suc- 
cess in the class-room and in the general work 
of a college officer, we shall find that all these 
were strengthened by his high qualities in social 
life. If there have been those who considered 
Professor Hopkins as severe and unsocial, they 
are those who have judged without acquaint- 
ance. No man ever enjoyed more fully all 
the pleasant relaxations of life. He was sure 
to become the joyous center of any social cir- 
cle in which he moved ; and as he grew older, 
he daily became more genial, more companion- 
able for youth, entering into all those plans 
which heighten the innocent enjoyments of 
life. Long will he be remembered for the en- 
joyment which his pure and happy nature gave 
to the young and old who have associated with 
him. 

As a husband, giving years of tender care to 
an invalid wife — giving, without a murmur, the 
time and strength of the best years of his life, 



^4 



HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 



that might have given him a still higher name 
among scientific men — as a father, giving up 
his only son for the service of his country, 

and bowing with Christian resignation as that 
young life went out in the shock of battle ; as 
a friend, that never failed, as a companion giv- 
ing delight to all associated with him, Profes- 
sor Hopkins was a model man. He was wise 
in word and act, and he combined with wis- 
dom those genial qualities that attract friends 
and do so much to heighten the enjoyment of 
daily life. In all the relations indicated, his 
character is beautiful, shining like the sun- 
light and stars, and his memory, to his friends, 
will be a precious legacy as they recall the 
pleasure which his friendship afforded, and 
mold their own lives by the example he has 
left. 

But in considering all these characteristics, 
we have not reached the great element of 
power in his life, that which molded and con- 
trolled all his activities, that for which he will 
be longest remembered, through which he im- 
pressed upon the world an influence that will 
not be lost while suns and stars revolve, and 
which will insure to him the brightness of the 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. 2 5 

firmament when the sun has paled and the 
stars no longer illume the sky. 

Professor Hopkins was eminently a man of 
God. His conduct in every relation in life 
bore witness that he was worthy of this name ; 
but in the special w r orks, which more distinctly 
mark the servant of Christ, he has been a 
wonder to those who have lived and labored 
with him. 

The change in his views when he dedicated 
himself to God was sudden and radical ; and 
his whole life was daily molded by the power 
of the Gospel of Christ. This no one could 
doubt — no one ever did doubt. It was his in- 
tention to devote himself to the missionary 
work in foreign lands, but when the call was 
made from the college, he wisely accepted it as 
a call from God, to occupy a place where he has 
probably rendered more efficient aid to the 
missionary work than he could have rendered 
in any foreign field. How many devoted mis- 
sionaries have gone out quickened by his 
Christian life, and rendered more efficient in 
their work through his instruction, his pre- 
cepts, and example ! 

In another age and in different relations he 



2 6 PE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

might have been a mystic ; but his active zeal 
for the salvation of men left him no time for 
mere speculation and dreams. His was an 
active Christian life. He went out into the 
highways and hedges, and wherever hearers 
could be found, there he proclaimed the ever- 
lasting Gospel. Upon these hills, in this 
church, in the college, and wherever the prov- 
idence of God called him., he proclaimed the 
Word. And in pungent, effective preaching, 
and in certain forms of expository preaching, 
he was unsurpassed. Hundreds who have 
listened to him, in times of revival, will bear 
witness to that wondrous power of voice and 
lanoaia^e that controlled and moved the whole 
assembly as one man, that made the unseen 
world a dread reality, thundering the terrors 
of a broken law and revealing the infinite love 
of a waiting Saviour. 

With what vividness and beauty did Bible 
scenes appear as, with magic power of poetic 
language, he portrayed the deeds of the wor- 
thies of Bible-history ! The stories of Abraham 
and Jacob and Moses, of Elijah and David be- 
came a sacred drama, as these men of God 
and the scenes in which they were actors 



PROFESSOR HOPKIXS. 



27 



passed before us. But the great central figure 
of the Bible was the central figure in all his 
preaching. " Christ and him crucified " was 
the great theme upon which he loved to dwell. 
Christ was the captain under whose banner he 
marched ; Christ was the pilot in whom he 
trusted when " w r aiting by the river.'' The 
last time that I met him, he told me of his 
thoughts in the niorht watches, and read to me 
some of the sermons, in sentences, which were 
repeated to us on the Sabbath, and that ser- 
mon, that with a polished crystal, as a symbol 
of Christian life, he was preparing, like the 
Apostle of old, to send as an epistle to his 
church.* 

In systematic labor for the promotion of 
religion, he was a marked example of faithful- 
ness. For forty years, the noon prayer-meet- 
ing has been sustained in this college ; of that 
meeting Professor Hopkins has been the lead- 
er. In days of weariness, even when borne 
down with anxiety and labor and weakness, 
how rarely has his place been vacant ! Some- 
times the room was thronged ; sometimes but 
two or three met together in the Saviour's 

* To the Church in " White Oaks." 



2 g HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

name, but his zeal and faithfulness never wa- 
vered. As the word goes forth throughout 
this land and among the missionary stations in 
different parts of the world, that he has gone, 
there will be sorrow for the loss of a faithful 
instructor and Christian friend ; but of all the 
memories which this sad news will awaken, the 
scenes in the prayer-meeting and in the con- 
ference-room, will be most vividly recalled. 
They will be remembered as largely depend- 
ing for their interest upon the constant, faith- 
ful labors of him whose work is now done. 

But piety and zeal like his, could not be con- 
fined to college walls. This church and this 
whole community will bear witness to his un- 
wearied labors, in former years, in the support 
of social meetings and in the public ministra- 
tions of the Word. You are ready to testify 
to his liberality and Christian love in coming 
to your aid, preaching and laboring without 
money and without price, for more than two 
years, that he might lighten your burdens in 
the building of this sanctuary, and thus secure 
to you the means of the permanent ministra- 
tions of the Gospel. 

But before this, his heart went out to a more 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. 



29 



destitute part of the town. And through his 
agency, the White Oaks Chapel Avas built ; and 
there he has labored and organized agencies 
for good, that are equal to the results of an 
ordinary lifetime, inaugurating a work that will 
bless this whole town, and be the means, 
through the grace of God, of bringing many 
to the knowledge of the truth, of making them 
stars in the crown of his rejoicing, adding to 
the brightness of that glory promised to those 
who turn many to righteousness. 

Of him, it could be truly said for the forty- 
five years that he has moved among you in 
these varied relations in life, that he was instant 
in season and out of season, that he was ever, 
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. 

And happy, transcendently happy was the 
close of his life, in what God permitted him to 
see as the fruits of his labors, in what he was 
able to do for others, and in that faith and 
Christian hope by which he was sustained till 
the Master called. 

That chamber of death was a fitting close to 
such a life. With powers of mind clear and 
comprehending every interest to the last, with 
fit words of comfort and instruction to those 



o HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

dear ones around him, to neighbors and friends, 
with messages of love to the absent, with calm 
trust in God, without a doubt or fear, his life 
went out, not in darkness, but in a radiance of 
heavenly light. 

Was it an accidental thingr that the debt 
which he labored to remove from this church, 
should have been removed before he passed 
away ? Was it a thing of accident, that as his 
eight years' work in the " White Oaks " was 
closing, the Spirit should be poured out there, 
and that he should be permitted in his sick- 
chamber to welcome young converts from the 
field of his labor ? It may truly be said of him, 
that his last days were his best days. With so 
many tokens of divine favor, with all the sur- 
roundings of love and honor which the heart 
of man could desire, and with the hope of a 
glorious immortality, he has passed to his 
rest. 

His work is done ; and we gather to-day in 
bereavement and sorrow. We weep for our- 
selves, and not for him. 

"Servant of God, well done." 

The voice which the Revelator heard from 



PROFESSOR HOPKINS. jj 

heaven comes echoing to us, as we contemplate 
this Christian character, this life so abounding 
with fruit " Blessed are the dead which die in 
the Lord, from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, 
that they nay rest from their labors ; and their 
works do follow them" 

His toils and cares, and his labors of love 
for this college, this church, and this people, 
are ended. He walks by the river of life be- 
fore the throne of God and the Lamb. He is 
gathered to the goodly company of patriarchs 
and prophets, who have triumphed through 
faith and have entered the holy city. But his 
name and his example remain to us, a precious 
legacy to this college and to this people. 

To all the Faculty of this institution of which 
he was the senior member — the honored and 
the well-beloved — this is a day of sorrow and 
bereavement. His death, I would rather say 
his whole life, comes to admonish us of duty, to 
encourage us in faithful labor for the intellectual 
and religious welfare of the college, for which 
he so long labored, and to which his name 
will continue such a blessing. Many a heart 
will swell with a deeper love for the institution 
and with more earnest prayers for its success, 



3 2 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

as the Alumni make their annual pilgrimage to 
the place of his rest. 

To the students of the college, there comes 
a voice calling upon them to seek wisdom — not 
the wisdom of this world which shall pass away, 
but that wisdom which has ooiided this life so 
beautiful in all its development, so transcend- 
ently beautiful in moral and religious perfec- 
tions, that all the wisdom and philosophy of 
this world can only wonder at and admire it. 
Will they seek to be gathered with the wise, 
who shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment when the honors and distinctions of life 
shall be forgotten ? 

To this people, his labors of love, his words 
of warning and instruction, and his godly life, 
should speak to-day as with a voice from be- 
yond the tide. He has no new Gospel to pro- 
claim, that he should return to repeat the mes- 
sages with new sanctions and with more pre- 
cious promises. You know the words that he 
would speak. The cross of Christ was all his 
trust, his glory in his days of strength, his sup- 
port and comfort in the days of weakness. 
Shall it be a mere passing incident to you, that 
his last service in this church was to break the 



PR ( )FESS( >/C HOPKINS. 

bread and commemorate with you the dying 

love oi Christ? that his last sermon in this 

pulpit, was from the words of God's ancient 
servant, " Choose ye this day whom ye will 

f As the becjinninqr of that sermon 
was a call to you, so the close of it seemed to 
have prophetic reference to his own departure. 
He spoke of the heavenly rest in these 
words : " For Joshua being a hundred and ten 
ars old, there remained to him only a burying 
place on the hill of Gaash. But the choice in- 
volves more — for says the Apostle, ' If Joshua 
had given them rest, then would he not after- 
wards have spoken of another, saying, There 
remaineth therefore a rest for the people of 
God,' a rest from pain, from sorrow, and from 
sin. 

' No chilling winds, no poisonous breath, 
Can reach that healthful shore ; 
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death 
Are felt and feared no more/ 

Let us labor, brethren, to enter into that rest/' 
These were his last w r ords from this pulpit. 
From that rest he speaks to-day. Shall his 
words to you in all his ministrations here be 
as good seed sown in good ground, or shall 
2* 



34 



HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS, 



they find lodgment only among choking thorns 
and upon stony earth ? 

To the bereaved wife, whose privilege it 
was to aid in his works of love, and minister 
to his wants in the last days of his life ; to the 
stricken brother now separated from the one 
whose name has so long been linked with his 
own, in the great work of life; to all these sor- 
rowing friends, I would speak words of comfort. 
But what words can add to the consolations 
which such a life and such a death afford ? 

And how shall I speak words of comfort to 
others, when my own heart swells with grief 
as I remember my own bereavement ? My 
elder brother, counselor, and friend is taken — 
a new sorrow has come to my heart, a new 
weight to the burden of my life. This college 
will seem strange ; and one place in it will 
never be filled. These hills have a shadow of 
gloom upon them for some of us, that the thou- 
sand stars of night or the brightness of the 
sun can never wholly dispel. One saintly form 
will no more appear among us, one voice 
so pleasant to us all is hushed. These hills and 
grounds and the sanctuaries that he loved, will 
know him no more forever. We must walk 



PROFESSi )R Hi >PKINS. * 5 

our own paths without his words of counsel, 
bear our burdens without his generous aid. 
But from among the shining throng, there 
:ms to come a voice to comfort and sustain. 
We know that voice would proclaim the un- 
changeable love of God, the wisdom of His 
way. It would counsel us in this day of dark- 
ness, to lift our eyes to the light which God can 
give, and to hear the voice that comes from 
His providence and Word. Yes, Heavenly 
Father, we will listen to the voice which comes 
to us from the life and counsels of thy servant. 
We listen to the words of thy Son. We trust 
in Thy wisdom and love. Though clouds and 
darkness are round about Thee, righteousness 
and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne. 
To Thee we commit the interests of this peo- 
ple, to Thee we commit this college in this day 
of its bereavement. Cover it with the shadow 
of Thy wings, sanctify it by Thy grace, raise 
up in it multitudes who shall imitate him whom 
Thou hast called to his rest — a multitude who 
shall shine with him as the brightness of the 
firmament, and as the stars forever and ever. 

Amen. 



REV. DR. GALE. 



There are hours of brightness and beauty 
in the physical world, and days of gloom and 
darkness and storm. The evening sky is a re- 
vealer of worlds, that declare the glory of God, 
or it is covered with impenetrable cloud that 
gathers like a pall around the earth, and has in 
itself no apparent promise of life or blessing 
to the world. It is through these changes, ap- 
parently without order, and to the mind of 
childhood and ignorance, meaningless, that the 
machinery of the universe moves on, that the 
seasons do their appointed work, and seed-time 
and harvest bless the earth. These changes 
symbolize the movements of God's providence 
in the moral and social world. As through the 
changes in the physical world, the sunlight and 
dew, the darkness and storm, the oak puts on 
its sturdy growth of a hundred years, and the 
lily and rose gather in their sweetness and 
beauty of form and tint, so in the trials and 



REV. PR. GALE. ny 

struggles that conic upon the children of men, 
dors God build up human characters with 
strength to battle in days of conflict, with sym- 
metry and beauty of development, a blessing 
to the world. But there is in human character, 
a possible grandeur, beauty and effectiveness 
which all the products of the natural world fail 
to symbolize. Man is in the image of God ; 
and though capable of culture and improve- 
ment like the lower forms of life, he has 
power to go forth as an independent actor, to 
understand the plans and purposes of creation, 
and to become, in promoting the progress and 
exaltation of mankind, a co-worker with God. 
As an agency in bringing this world to its true 
place, back to its allegiance to Himself, and to 
aid in giving the knowledge of immortality and 
blessedness to all the race, God has established 
the church. Abraham was called, Christ came 
in the flesh and finally left that commission 
with his disciples, under which to-day ministers 
and missionaries offer the Gospel of reconcilia- 
tion to those in the bondage and degradation 
of sin. Amid the darkness and gloom and 
hopelessness that rest upon the nations, there 
comes a light ; to those in the bondage of sin, 



38 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS, 

a voice of promise comes from the servants of 
God, proclaiming pardon to captives, salvation 
to all nations, and the triumph of that everlast- 
ing kingdom of peace, which Christ came to 
establish. 

What language m0 re beautiful, what more 
appropriate to apply to the faithful and suc- 
cessful minister of the Gospel of Christ, than 
the words of the prophet (Isaiah lii : 7) : 

11 HOW 7 BEAUTIFUL UPON THE MOUNTAINS ARE 
THE FEET OF HIM THAT BRINGETH GOOD TIDINGS, 
THAT PUBLISHETH PEACE; THAT BRINGETH GOOD 
TIDINGS OF GOOD, THAT PUBLISHETH SALVATION ; 
THAT SAITH UNTO ZlON, THY GOD REIGNETH ! " 

Such was the language most naturally sug- 
gested to my mind, when the telegraph an- 
nounced to me that Dr. Gale was no more. 
His whole life, as I have known it for twenty- 
five years, his beautiful Christian character, his 
great success in the ministerial office, all came 
to view in a moment, and there seemed a 
beauty to gather around him as though re- 
vealed to my view amid the glories and tri- 
umphs that await those who have fought the 
good fight and finished their course. With 
the beauty of such a life, no emblem in the 



REV. DR. GALE. ^g 

physical earth or heavens can compare. The 
light that comes from the character and teach- 
ings of such a man is more blessed and glori- 
ous than the light from star or planet, and it 
will shine on when the sun shall fail and the 
visible heavens shall pass away. It is the 
lesson of such a life, its beauty and worth, that 
I would gladly impress upon my own mind, 
and that I would present to you, my friends, 
not only for your comfort, but for our encour- 
agement, guidance and profit, in what remains 
to us of earthly work. 

Nahum Gale was born in Auburn, Mass., 
March 6, 1812, and united with the Congrega- 
tional church in Worcester at the age of 18, 
graduated at Amherst College in 1837, and at 
the East Windsor Theological Seminary of 
Connecticut in 1841. The following year, 
June 22, 1842, he was ordained to the work 
of the Gospel ministry. For more than thirty- 
four years he has served the Master in the 
church, and Theological Seminary, and in all 
the varied duties and trusts that come upon 
such a man in the promotion of education, 
morals and religion among his own people 
and in the world at large. The nature and 



40 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

value of this work we can but briefly present, 
as we attempt an outline of that character 
which has grown in strength and beauty as 
the years have passed, a character that is a 
comfort to those who mourn and a blessing to 
the world. 

The short record of dates and places that 
mark the history of his life is soon read ; but 
the work of preparation, the labor and growth 
in the work of the ministry, the varied results 
of these long years of faithful labor will be 
known in their fullness only when the great 
white throne is set, and the books are opened. 
But so much is known to all those who have 
lived and labored with Dr. Gale, that his life 
must impress them as one of great beauty in 
its singleness of purpose, devotion and fitness 
for the pastoral work. The life of Dr. Gale 
was beautiful in its ordinary social relations. 
He had his share of trials and sorrow, but to 
him the world was no place for gloom and 
complaining. Where he moved, there was 
light and joy and enjoyment. A lover of the 
beautiful in Nature, a sympathizer with youth, 
he was welcome in all places as one who could 
rightly enjoy the world and teach others the 



REV. DR. GALE. ^ 

secret of that cheerfulness which may abound 
with Christian love and zeal. As a choice 
companion, Dr. Gale will ever be lovingly re- 
membered by those who have had the good 
fortune to be often associated with him. This 
healthful social nature gave him access to men, 
influence over the young, and made his daily 
life a blessing to himself, and a source of en- 
joyment to all his friends. There was with 
him ever a genial atmosphere, that won the 
heart, and a manner that gave an air of at- 
tractiveness and a new value to the common 
duties of life as he performed them. There 
was a deeper beauty still, known to those who 
saw him in the family, in all those tender rela- 
tions of which we may not speak even at such 
a time as this, because their precious memories 
belong to those who are called to weep, and 
who will henceforth treasure them as a rich 
legacy left by him to those dearest to his 
heart. But there was another form of friend- 
ship in which the life of our brother was a joy 
and comfort to many beyond the range of his 
family or kindred. I may be allowed to speak 
of that kindness and helpfulness which he has 
given to me in all the changes and responsi- 



4 2 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

bilities of my official life. Well can I adopt the 
language of David in his bereavement, " Very 
pleasant hast thou been unto me," my brother. 

From the time that we first counseled to- 
gether at East Windsor until he spoke his last 
words of cheer and encouragement to me on 
the stage at our last Commencement, he has 
been to me an elder brother, in sound counsel, 
in confidence and support. The college has 
lost one long faithful to her interests — faithful 
and true in ways that the world knows little 
of. While the college has lost a wise coun- 
selor, an honored Trustee, I have lost a friend ; 
and my burden will be heavier, while I am 
spared to active work, for this loss of one upon 
whom I so much leaned, one who knew how, 
and was prompt to speak kind words and do 
kind and brave acts, at the right time. Those 
who saw Dr. Gale only in the common inter- 
course of life, where his genial companionship 
was chiefly apparent, have little conception of 
that caution and kindness and wisdom and 
bravery that marked his action where principle 
was involved and the rigdit was to be main- 
tained. 

He was no mere fair-weather friend, no one 



REV. DR. GALE. ^ 

to float with the current when that current 
was against his convictions of truth and right. 
He would not willingly wound, but he would 
stand firm as a friend to truth though it put 
him in antagonism with those whom he loved 
and respected. Fortunate is it for an Institu- 
tion to have such a man among its counselors 
and guardians, fortunate is the man who has 
such a one. for a friend in time of trial or of 
doubt. Of all these good qualities as adviser 
and friend, I have had abundant experience. 
His words and letters will still remain to me 
not only as tokens of his friendship, but as wise 
counselors still in the guidance of the college. 
The last words he spoke to me, were such as 
his heart would have prompted had he known 
he was giving me his last message — they were 
such as I shall ever remember with love for 
the man and encouragement in my work. 

But the crowning beauty of the life of Dr. 
Gale, was his character and work as a Chris- 
tian minister. This work was his choice ; to it 
he gave time and strength, yea his life, and to 
it all other purposes and pursuits in life were 
subordinate. It is this work which permeates 
and envelops all other forms of his activity, so 



44 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

that in whatever character we contemplate 
him, the Christian minister is the chief figure 
which attracts our attention. The testimony 
of his brethren and the abundant fruits which 
he gathered, to-day witness to his faithfulness 
and zeal and success in the pastoral office. 

He began his work as settled pastor in 
Ware, where after a ministry of nine years, in 
which he endeared himself to his people and 
gained a good report among the brethren, he 
was called to the Professorship of Ecclesiasti- 
cal History and Pastoral Duties in the Theo- 
logical Institute of Connecticut, at East Wind- 
sor Hill. Though well fitted for this w^ork 
and successful as an instructor, he felt drawn 
again to the more congenial work of the pas- 
torate. From the Seminary, he came to this 
people. Why should I stand here to recount, 
to you, the people of his charge, his abundant 
labors for nearly a quarter of a century ? Many 
who welcomed him as the new pastor here are 
gone. He has entered here many houses of 
mourning with the consolations of the Gospel. 
The children of that time now bear the burden 
and heat of the day. Those whom he baptized 
in infancy, as children of the church, have en- 



REV. DR. GALE. 4 5 

tered upon the active duties of life in this and 
other places. As the tidings of his death go 
out to other States, many eyes will grow dim 
at the remembrance of the beloved pastor who 
gave them counsel and comfort and led them 
to Him who could save. A great multitude 
of the living will remember him as their spirit- 
ual father — a great multitude on the heavenly 
shores, we believe, will welcome him to that 
blessedness which they have inherited through 
his faithful, loving ministrations. His brethren 
in the ministry will remember his sympathy 
and counsel ; they will be encouraged in their 
work by his example, and, for long years, his 
name among them will be held in precious re- 
membrance. The lesson of such a life is too 
valuable to be lost, and too varied to be pre- 
sented in this short discourse. We should fail 
in our duty — we should lose what he would 
most desire for us, were he with us once more 
— were we to fail to gain instruction in the 
great work of the Christian life, from the ex- 
ample he has left us. 

The first element of his success as a minis- 
ter was in his thorough Christian character. 
No man was more deeply grounded in the 



46 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

great doctrines of the Bible, known as evan- 
gelical, than he. He believed in the Bible, 
and he believed that the Bible taught its truths 
with fullness and plainness. There was to him 
also a Christian experience that bore witness 
to the truths he preached. He warned men 
to flee from the wrath to come. He pointed 
them to a Saviour able to save all, even to the 
uttermost, of those who come to God by Him. 
It was thus — his intellectual apprehension of 
the scheme of salvation and his own religious 
experience harmonizing — that there was with 
him no waste of strength, no doubt and no 
holding back. Body, mind and spirit moved 
in unison in the great work in which he was 
engaged. It was thus that he became a power ; 
it was thus, with this intellectual and emotional 
basis for action, that he has brought this re- 
markable pastorate to a close, only with the 
close of his life. And the last w r ords which he 
spoke were a fitting close to such a ministry 
and such a Christian life. " All my trust is 
in the Saviour I have preached so long. I trust 
Him wholly. The doctrines I have preached 
I believe are true, true now and true for- 
ever. I rest on them" Dr. Gale by nature 



REV. DR. GALE. *y 

had certain qualifications that fitted him in an 
unusual degree for the pastoral office. He was 
naturally alive to the interests of all people 
wherever he moved. He was genial and 
sympathetic, so that his company was cheerful 
to the aged and attractive to the young. And 
this natural suavity of temper was blended 
with that religious principle and sense of duty 
that kept him in sympathy with his people and 
the work of the kingdom to the last. 

Another ground of success was devotion to 
his work. How abundant in labors he was, 
how cheerfully and gladly he bore every bur- 
den that belongs to the Christian ministry ! 
He was not only the oldest settled pastor in 
the Congregational churches of the county, but 
he was also the senior pastor among all the 
denominations. Of those who assisted at his 
installation only three are now living. 

At no time, in all his ministry, was he dearer 
to his people, the old and the young, than in 
the last year of his life. The labor required to 
lead such a people, as a faithful shepherd, for 
so many years, could be performed only by 
one who loved the work in which he was 
engaged. Of his most abundant labors no 



43 



HOPE OE THE RIGHTEOUS. 



earthly record could be made ; but the in- 
gathering- into this church and the impulse that 
he gave to the Gospel work beyond the bounds 
of his own parish, witness to his devotion to 
his Master's cause. His last earthly labor, on 
the Saturday before his death, was dictating a 
letter in reference to the Home Missionary 
work. 

And now that his labor is done, and we re- 
view that work, that life given to the service of 
God in the holy ministry, what other office 
seems so grand as the pastoral office? Who 
among the nobles of earth can compare with 
him who has finished such a life, falling in the 
midst of his work and yet having done a work 
that might have been counted complete at any 
moment that the Master called. In this hour 
of our bereavement and sadness, there beams 
forth a light that gives joy to every mourning 
heart. The world is brighter and better for 
such a life ; it seems like another star set in the 
spiritual firmament to give new glory to the 
heavens and light to the earth. 

" How beautiful upon the mountains are the 

Jeet of him that bringeth good tidings ; that pub- 

lisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, 



n 



REV. DR. GALE. ]{} 

that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion % 
Hi y God reigneth ! " 

And how beautiful, thou servant of God, 
among the redeemed with the palm of victory, 
wearing the crown of rejoicing, that crown of 
glory whose brightness and stars are but sym- 
bols of souls redeemed through thy ministra- 
tions ! 

But the " field is the world," and precious 
seed must still be sown. There are battles still 
to be fought under the banners of the Gospel, 
and though one soldier after another puts off 
his armor and passes to his reward, others must 
press forward into the vacant places, hold the 
ground already won, and march on to new con- 
quests, till the triumph of the Redeemer's king- 
dom is complete. We have something more 
to do to-day than to recount the virtues and 
rejoice in the victory of him who has been 
called from his work. It becomes us to inquire 
what new duty this dispensation brings to us 
who remain. One of the fathers of the churches 
has fallen, one of the' oldest and most honored 
pastors of the county has stepped from his place, 
to return no more. His pulpit, his place in the 
councils of the church, in the missionary work, 
3 



5o HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

in the college, and all those: labors in which he 
was so abundant, are to be filled by others, or 
the cause of the kingdom must suffer loss. To 
you, his brethren in the ministry, he speaks 
to-day, speaks by the work he has done, by the 
places once filled by him. now vacant. Though 
not properly one of you in the office of the 
ministry, I cannot forget the inroads made upon 
your number in this county ; and as you are 
called upon to bear this heavy loss, I would 
cheer you by this example of a long and faith- 
ful pastorate, I would incite you to renewed 
diligence and zeal by presenting anew the great 
work in which you are engaged, and the great 
need in our very midst, in our State, our nation, 
and the world, of such Christian labors as this 
people have long enjoyed. If this loss shall stir 
the heart of every pastor in the county to new 
faith and zeal and activity in his ministry, shall 
kindle in each one new and deeper love for the 
Gospel as the appointed means for the salvation 
of men, this example will do its appropriate 
work, this death will be fflessed to the upbuild- 
ing of the churches that are now called to 
mourn. 

The voice comes not to ministers alone, but 



REV. DR. GALE. S | 

to all the people of our county. The fathers 
oi the churches are passing away or bending 
under the weight of years. There arc vacant 

pulpits, there arc churches that need new life 
and power. The time has come for every 
member of the church of Christ to hold him- 
self a worker in the vineyard of the Lord. Let 
the pastors accept the new responsibilities, let 
all the people ofifer themselves willingly as 
of old, to the service of God, and our coun- 
ty, beautiful in its mountain, stream and val- 
lev, shall become more beautiful in its living 
churches, in its people honoring God and de- 
liehtinof in his service. 

To the family and people what words can 
come freighted with the comfort and consola- 
tion which you crave ? What more can be 
done, than to recount the closing scenes of his 
triumphant death, to recall the words of tender- 
ness and love as he remembered his people, 
the people that he loved, and in whose love he 
had perfect trust? " Deal tenderly with me 
now," said he, " it is the clay of my disappoint- 
ment," when he found he was to meet his peo- 
ple no more on earth. " Tell the people how 
I have loved them." But, though longing to see 



5 2 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

you once more, though his thoughts were 

busy with new plans for the instruction of the 
young, though he might, according to the or- 
dinary course of life, look forward to years of 
active labor and a fuller realization of his 
plans, yet his language was, as death ap- 
proached, " It is all right, all right." And thus 
with many loving words that may not be 
spoken here, with unshaken faith in Christ and 
hope of everlasting life, he passed to his rest. 
What sweeter consolation than this to the be- 
reaved wife and children and to this mourning- 
church ? 

To the Heavenly Father who has blessed 
you with this beautiful life, to Him who afflicts 
not willingly, whose grace is abundant, whose 
mercy everlasting, I commend you. May the 
light of God's countenance never depart from 
one of the bereaved family, may the fires of 
holy love and Christian zeal glow brighter than 
ever upon the altar of this church. May this 
new name, added to that other long remem- 
bered and honored here, be cherished by all 
this people as a new example of faithfulness, 
ever recalling the precious seasons of the past, 
and inciting them towards that land of peace 



REV, DR. GALE. 53 

and rest, where pastor and people shall rejoice 
together, where there shall be no more death, 
where they shall together worship m that city, 
where the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb 

are the temple of it. Amen. 
3* 



REV. DR. GRIFFIN. 



"The righteous hath hope in his death." 
How different are these words from the natu- 
ral language of this world ! The wisdom of 
this world sees hope in the plans and purposes 
of life, disappointment and dread in all that 
pertains to death. 

At such a time as this, we all need that light 
and support which God is ever offering to us 
in his revealed Word. It is a ligfht and guide 
to us through all this earthly pilgrimage. — a 
pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by 
night. But it is in the days of darkness and 
sorrow that its preciousness is most clearly re- 
vealed. When we are in the midst of pros- 
perity, when no sorrow is upon us, we are 
prone to forget the precious promises here 
made for the comfort and support of the chil- 
dren of God. But when affliction comes upon 
us, these promises shine forth as stars gather 
in the evening sky when the light of day 



REV. DR. GRIFFIN. 55 

grows dim, until the whole concave is gleam- 
ing with shining worlds. 
It is not strange that the Bible, as a whole 

is opposed in its teachings to the maxims of 
the world. The Bible is the word of God and 
contains His holy law, while man is in rebellion 
against his God, by nature a sinful being, and 
by practice a transgressor of that law. The 
maxims of men have special reference to this 
world; the Bible everywhere recognizes an 
endless life. It lays hold on an eternal world. 
Among these great truths peculiar to Revela- 
tion, I have selected these words as appropriate 
for our contemplation at this time. 

" The righteous hath hope in his deaths' 
How opposed is this to the maxims of the men 
of fashion, the ambitious, and the worldly-wise. 
To them death is the end of all hope. Their 
good is in this life, and their hope reaches on 
towards earthly success and sensual gratifica- 
tion. They must hurry on and grasp the prize 
before death comes to blast their hopes forever. 
But not so with the righteous. He may have 
been among the humble and unknown, or 
among the honored of earth, but the day of his 
death*is the day of brightest hope for him. As 



56 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

he is reach' to bid adieu to earth, he is permit- 
ted to indulge hopes unknown to other men. 
His work is indeed done, but his God still 
lives and rules upon the earth — his labors may 
therefore yet be blessed after he has passed 
away, his prayers for loved ones may yet be 
answered by that covenant-keeping God, who 
shows mercies to thousands of those who love 
him and keep his commandments. He com- 
mits the dear ones to the care of Him, who 
is the Father of the fatherless and the God of 
the bereaved. 

But what shall I say of that hope which en- 
ters into that within the vail ? That hope which 
lays hold of the great promise of eternal life 
and of eternal blessedness through Jesus Christ? 
What a blessed hope ! a hope that death alone 
made possible. Life was an imperfect arch ; 
but now death, radiant with the hopes that 
brighten in its presence, makes the arch perfect, 
and the central hope of the soul is changed to 
glad fruition. 

Through death, the believer is freed from a 
sinful body. In life there was a war in the 
members, but now there is to be a joyful en- 
trance into the company of the redeemed, where 



REV. Ph\ GRIFFIN. 5* 

sin, with all its allurements, is unknown, where 
we believe that he, whose death we mourn, now 
walks freed from the body of this death. 

The believer has hope of the resurrection of 

the body. It may not be shadowed forth in 
natuiw but it is revealed in the Bible. In the 
wreck of the universe not one of the dead shall 
be forgotten. At the peal of the trump of 
God, the dead in Christ shall rise first, they 
shall be caught up to meet their Lord in the 
air. Yea, more than this, though the heavens 
and the earth pass away, the inheritance of the 
saints of God shall remain sure, they shall en- 
ter the pearly gates, they shall stand upon the 
sea of glass mingled with fire ; they shall eat of 
the tree of life and drink of the river of water 
of life proceeding out of the throne of God and 
the Lamb. There shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow nor crying, for God himself shall 
be with them and wipe away all tears from their 
eyes. 

Such was the hope of him who has now 
passed away. The power and beauty of a Chris- 
tian life was manifest in all he did. For thirty 
years he has lived among this people, faithful to 
the college and to the church— faithful in all the 



58 HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

relations of life. His precepts and example 
agreed. His trust in the Bible and the God of 
the Bible was complete. If any one among us 

was worthy of the name of theologian, Dr. Griffin 
was the man. But in the simplicity and fullness 
of his faith and trust, he was a Christian. And 
the strength and beauty of his Christian char- 
acter w r ere clearly revealed as he came near the 
end. When the outward man began to weaken, 
the inward man, renewed day by day, put on 
that strength which is the promise of immortal- 
ity. He was the one to speak words of com- 
fort and consolation. Trusting in Him who has 
conquered death and the grave, his spirit rose 
above the weakness of the body, so that his last 
days will remain a pleasant remembrance to his 
family and friends. 

And now that still another to whom I looked 
for words of advice and encouragement has 
gone, I feel more than ever before alone, and 
remember that the burdens of life must become 
heavier as one after another falls, in whom I 
have trusted for aid and support. But there is 
still instruction and strength to be gained from 
the example of the wise and good who are gone. 
From the example of this life now closed, I 



REV. DR. GRIFFIN. 



5 9 



would fain gain profit for myself. And to his 
friends and neighbors, his life and death arefull 
of instruction. It would not be in accordance 
with his own request for me to speak of him as 
my own heart might prompt me to speak. As 

I sat with him alone for the last time, it was 
pleasant to know that in the long years of our 
intercourse no shadow had fallen between us, 
that we could recall the past, which seemed clear 
as the vision of day in his thoughts, without 
words of explanation or regret. As he gave 
his last messages and requests, his words were : 

II If you can speak a word that shall profit the 
living, I shall be glad, but say little as possible 
of me " Nor need I speak words of him to 
those who can recall the example which he has 
left. His faithfulness in all the duties of life 
that devolved upon him, and his courage and 
submission, as this fatal disease made its inroads 
upon him, must be a stimulus to us in all our 
work, a new cause of faithfulness in that Chris- 
tian life that brought so much consolation to 
him as the world was fading away. 

And to you, my beloved friends, the bereaved 
wife and children, and all of you upon whom 
this loss falls so heavily, what words can I speak 



6o HOPE OF TH1-: RIGHTEOUS. 

that shall give any comfort and consolation that 
you do not already possess, in the loving words 
and in the remembrance of the Christian life and 
glorious hope of him for whom we all mourn 
to-day? I can but commend you to the Word 
of God, and to the blessings of His orace. 
May He sustain you in all your way, and en- 
able us all to follow him who is gone as he fol- 
lowed the Divine Master, and bring us, through 
infinite grace in Jesus Christ, to that rest that 
remaineth to the people of God. Amen. 



President Chadbourne's Works. 

PUBLISHED BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 
182 Fifth Avenue, New York. 



I. NATURAL THEOLOGY, or Nature and the Bible, from the 
same Author. i2mo, cloth, . . $1*50 

II. INSTINCT IN ANIMALS AND MEN, i2mo, cloth, $1.75 

III. THE HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS, 12010, . $ 

IV. THE STRENGTH OF MEN AND STABILITY OF NATIONS. 

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